Tablet and method of forming same



TABLET oratories, Inc., Long Island of New York No Drawing. Filed Nov. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 855,959 7 Claims. (Cl. 167-82) The present invention relates generally to an improved tablet and method of preparing the same, and it relates particularly to an improved food supplement in tablet form and to a method of preparing the tablet.

The compound dicalcium phosphate is one of the most useful and widely accepted form of mineral supplementation for the two elements, calcium and phosphorous. It is highly desirable to administer the dicalcium phosphate in the form of a tablet. However, in producing tablets of dicalcium phosphate, a serious problem has been encountered in that the tablets are marred by black marks and discolorations, and hence present an unsightly and unattractive appearance which detracts from their salability. These black marks are caused by even the slightest abrasion between the tablets and metal and wooden surfaces generally attendant the production and packaging of the tablets. Even the use of lubricants conventionally employed in the production of tablets does not remedy this unsightly marking of the tablets.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved tablet.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process for the production of tablets.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved tablet containing a highly abrasive material and a method for producing the same.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved tablet containing dicalcium phosphate and characterized by its ability to slide over metal surfaces without marring the tablet.

The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description, which sets forth preferred embodiments of the present invention.

City, N.Y., a corporation glyceride substantially exceeds 10% of the tablet is no longer resistant to marring and readily picks up black spots when in sliding contact with a metal. The fatty acid monoglyceride conventionally marketed and referred to as a monoglyceride in actual fact contains and more of the diglycerides and triglycerides and is thus completely unsuitable for the present purpose in that the resulting tablet is subject to the usual drawback of marring and discoloration.

Thus, the present invention in a sense contemplates the provision of an improved tablet comprising dicalcium phosphate and a fatty acid monoglyceride having a monoglyceride content of at least 90% by Weight. The tablet may be produced by granulating the finely divided dicalcium phosphate with a bonding agent, admixing the fatty acid monoglyceride therewith and thereafter shaping and compressing said mixture to form tablets.

Examples of fatty acid monoglycerides which may be satisfactorily employed in accordance with the present intime vention are glyceryl mo-nostearate, glyceryl monopalmitate, the mono-fatty acid glyceryl ester of any of the common available fatty acids derived from natural sources such as lard, tallow, hydrogenated vegetable oils such as cottonseed oil, palm oil, peanut oil and the like, and mixtures thereof, provided that the aggregate diglyceride and triglyceride content thereof does not substantially exceed 10%. While the monoglycerides of the unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic and the like, will prevent the marring and discoloring of the dicalcium phosphate tablets and may be employed to serve such function within the scope of the present invention, they are less preferable since they exhibit a tendency to oxidize and become rancid and discolored. Here again, the aggregate diglyceride and triglyceride content should not substantially exceed 10% by weight. A specific example of a fatty acid monoglyceride which has proven highly satisfactory is Myverol, which is a distilled monoglyceride and contains less than 10% by Weight of the diglycerides and the triglycerides and is marketed by Distillation Products Industries, a division of Eastman Kodak Company, of Rochester 3, NY.

The fatty acid monoglyceride should preferably constitute between 2% and 8% by weight of the finished tablet and advantageously between 3% and 5% for example, approximately 3.5%. The range of the dicalcium phosphate in the tablet is preferably between 70% and 98% by weight of the finished tablet and advantageously between and for example, about 90%. The tablet should also include a suitable bonding agent which may be of any conventional type well known in the tabletting art and employed in the usual granulating process, for example, a gum such as acacia or the like. In addition to the above, the tablet may containing the usual additives, such as a flavoring, for example, sugar, saccharin and the like, and other of the common additives.

In producing the improved tablet, the dicalcium phosphate and the various additives and the binding agent are and the resulting mixture compressed into tablets in any conventional tabletting machine as is well known in the art.

sugar, 6 grams of saccharin with 130 and suificient water, as well known in the art. The resulting mass is dried at 60 C. and then comminuted in a Fitzpatrick mill employing a #2 screen. The comminuted material is then intimately and uniformly admixed with grams of Myverol or any of the fatty acid monoglycerides set forth above and of the purity and characteristics indicated. The resulting mixture is then compressed in a conventional tabletting machine into tablets having a gross weight of about each and a dicalcium phosphate content of about 3.00 grams each. About 2000 tablets were produced in the batch.

The tablets may be modified in the manner previously set forth by varying the proportions of the dicalcium phosphate and fatty acid monoglyceride, and by adding, omitting or changing the proportions of any additives.

While there have been described preferred embodiwithout departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A streak-free dicalcium phosphate-containing medicament tablet consisting essentially of an intimate admixture of a fatty-acid monoglyceride containing not more than about 10% by weight of polyglycerides and the dicalciurn phosphate.

2. A tablet in accordance with claim 1, wherein said fatty acid monoglyceride is selected from the class consisting of glyceryl monostearate, glyceryl monopalmitate, and the monoglyceryl derivatives of the mixed fatty acids derived from the hydrogenated natural fats and oils.

3. A tablet as agent.

4. A tablet in accordance with claim 3, wherein said fatty acid monoglyceride constitutes between 2% and 8% by weight of said tablet.

5. A tablet in accordance with claim 3, wherein said dicalcium phosphate constitutes between 70% and 98% by weight of said tablet.

6. A streak-free dicalcium phosphate-containing medicament consisting essentially of between 70% and 98% by weight of dicalcium phosphate and between 2% and in claim 1, and including a bonding 8% by weight of a fatty acid monoglyceride having a polyglyceride content not exceeding about 10% thereof.

7. A tablet in accordance dicalcium phosphate constitutes about 90% with claim 6, wherein said of said tablet 5 and said fatty acid monoglyceride about 1.5% thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES U.S. Dispensatory, 25th ed., part I, 1955, pages 613- Modern Drug Encyclopedia, 7th ed., 1958, page 343. 

1.A STREAK-FREE DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE-CONTAINING MEDICAMENT TABLET CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF AN INTIMATE ADMIXTURE OF A FATTY-ACID MONOGLYCERIDE CONTAINING NOT MORE THAN ABOUT 10% BY WEIGHT OF POLYGLYCERIDES AND THE DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE. 